Growing Up
by Waverin3
Summary: Gabriel Atwood is facing the challenges and struggles of growing up in Newport Beach. Please Read and Review! Chapter 4 is up!
1. Chapter 1

Seven months into her pregnancy, Theresa was sitting on the couch watching TV. She was waiting for Ryan to come back from the store with her juice.

_I need a cigarette. No. I need to protect the baby. _

She successfully fought off the urge and focused on the TV, when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She felt the baby lurch and it hurt her a lot.

_Oh god!!_

She called Ryan and he came back. They went to the hospital together, praying that nothing's wrong.

But something was wrong. The baby got its throat wrapped around the umbilical cord. The doctors needed to perform an emergency C-Section to save the baby's life.

They bought Theresa into the room and Ryan followed. He was wearing hospital scrubs, so nothing else went wrong.

The doctors immediately got to work. Ryan went over and saw what they were doing. What he saw made him vomit. The baby's head was sticking out, but it was stuck. What Ryan saw was a purple head and the umbilical cord wrapped around it.

The doctor was able to cut the umbilical cord and get the baby out. Its face was still a purple color as they were hooking it up to the machine. They were giving it oxygen. Ryan was forced out of the room and had to sit in the waiting area.

As soon as he sat down, he saw multiple doctors rushing into Theresa's room. Ryan got up and went to see what was going on.

He couldn't get a good view. He caught a glimpse of two doctors helping his baby, and about 4 helping Theresa. She wasn't moving. Ryan ran in, but was pushed out by a crowd of doctors.

"Wait out here son," a doctor said.

"No! What's going on? How's my son? How's Theresa?"

"We'll call you in when anything happens." With that, a security guard escorted him out.

Ryan was sitting the waiting room. His hands were shaking and his eyes were red and puffy from crying. He was there for about 5 minutes, when the doctor came in. Immediately, Ryan stood up.

"Sit down Mr. Atwood. You'll need to," he said. Ryan listened and stared at the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Grady, just to let you know," he said.

"How are they," Ryan said coldly.

"They baby's fine. He's just sleeping now. We still have him hooked up the oxygen machine. But that's for safety reasons. His face is still a little red and he has a scar on his throat that is most likely permanent."

"Where did it come from?" Ryan asked.

"When the umbilical cord got tangled, he got cut. It was minor, and it happened when he was still in the uterus. Theresa's body healed it."

"How's Theresa?"

Grady looked down, then back up at Ryan.

"Theresa passed away about 6 minutes ago."

Ryan stared at him. "How." He said.

"She had an aneurism."

Ryan looked at him.

"But she didn't have cancer," he said.

"Yes she did. She had a tumor in the brain, but no one knew about it. We think she might have felt some symptoms of it, but she just ignored them."

Ryan sank into the chair. He wants his baby to have a better life than he did. And he will.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan went into his son's bedroom.

"Hey kid. It's time to get up," he said.

Gabriel ignored him and just rolled over.

"Gabriel Trey Atwood get up. The bus will be here in an hour to pick you up and Melanie never comes on time."

Gabriel looked at his father.

"Melanie's a bitch. She yelled at me again for nothing! I didn't do anything! She told me to get to the front of the bus."

Ryan gave Gabriel the look.

"Fine. I pushed a sixth grader 'cause he was in my seat. I told him to get up. He said 'no' I said, 'Get the fuck up!' He still said 'no' so I kicked him in the balls and I got yelled at."

Gabriel used reverse psychology and gave his father the look back.

"Just be good for the next two weeks. You'll be graduating soon and you'll get to go somewhere new," Ryan said.

"I know where I'm going. I'm going to Harbor. That's where you, Uncle Seth and Summer went. I'm not stupid."

Gabriel rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom.

Ryan went downstairs and saw Seth sitting there.

"Where did you come from?" Ryan asked.

"My house. I need to talk to you," Seth said.

Ryan sat in the chair next to Seth's.

"Your son's birthday is coming up."

"I know," Ryan said.

"What does he want?"

"You try cracking him. I can't figure it out."

"Like father like son," Seth said.

"I know. But now, you just get me whatever you want. I don't even know what you get me half the time. But I still keep it," Ryan said.

Seth heard footsteps and looked behind him. It was Gabriel.

"Hey man! Guess what?" Seth asked.

"My birthday's in three days."

"You're smart! How old are you gonna be?" Seth asked, trying to excite him.

"14," Gabriel responded.

"Wow! My little Gabriel is growing up!" Seth said.

"Call me Gabe."

"Righty then!"

Gabe looked at him funny and went into the living room.

"You scared him," Ryan said.

"GABE!" Seth called.

Gabe came in. He looked at Seth. _He looks just like his father_. Gabe gave Seth the look and Seth looked at his outfit. He was wearing a button-up shirt, but it was open. He was wearing a wifebeater under it. His sandy blue eyes and sandy hair look exactly like Ryan's.

"WHAT!!" Gabe said. He called Seth's name about 20 times.

"What do you want for your birthday?" Seth asked.

Gabe took a piece of paper out of his pocket and threw it to Seth and went back inside.

Seth looked at the paper and read the list. Ryan tried to catch a glimpse, but Seth hid it.

:"He said he doesn't want you seeing it," Seth said.

"What? Why not?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know. But that's what it says."

"I'm going to school!" Gabe called.

"Have a good day!" Ryan replied, but Gabe was out the door.

Gabe was heading towards the bus stop, when the bus pulled up. He ran and made it just in time.

"Your late," Melanie said.

"So what? You can't kick me off. I didn't do anything wrong and besides, your early. I guess I'll just call the bus company," Gabe said, pulling out his cell phone.

"Fine. I won't tell. Just sit down and be good for once."

Gabe smiled and saw someone sitting in his seat. It was a new kid.

"Hey kid. This is my seat. So can you get up?" It's his first day. Gabe's gonna be nice for now.

"Sure. Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"Uh, go ahead. I'd let you sit here but my friend is coming."

"That's fine. My name's Jason," he said.

"I'm Gabe Atwood."

"Atwood. I know who you are. My cousin knows your father somehow," Jason said.

"How old is your cousin?"

"She's 30. That's how old your dad is, right?"

"Uh, sure. Look, I'm having a party on Saturday. Everyone's gonna be there. Here's my address. If Ryan knows your cousin, bring him over."

"Actually, it's a female. She knows your dad real well. So I've heard."

Gabe looked up and saw his friend coming.

"Hey man," Todd said.

"Hey this is Jason. He's new," Gabe said.

Gabe introduced Jason to all of his friends, and told them all about the party. _Dad's gonna have fun this weekend. About 50 teenagers. Haha!!_

Ryan woke up to his alarm clock going off.

"What the hell?" he said to no one.

Gabe came into the room.

"It's nine o'clock. We have to start preparing," he said.

"What? People aren't coming until 2!"

"I know. But Uncle Seth's gonna be here in ten minutes. You have to start barbequing."

"How many people are coming?"

Gabe thought for a moment.

I have 72 people coming."

"72!!! That's about 30 more than you told me!"

"I know, but a few people are bringing friends. Truthfully, I was only expecting 50."

"Gabe! There's gonna be over 150 people here! That's not a lot, but half of them are your friends! Which, if I'm not mistaking, are all hormonal."

Ryan looked at Gabe, but he was gone. Ryan got up just as the dog started barking.

"Spike! Quiet!" Ryan called.

The Golden-Retriever came up the stairs and started to pull Ryan out of bed. Ryan got up and followed him downstairs. There he saw Seth sitting in the living room with Gabe.

"Did you get it?" Gabe asked. Ryan never heard Gabe so excited.

"I'm sorry kid. I couldn't find it. But I know someone who might have one in New York," Seth said.

"It's alright. If you can get it, I can wait." Gabe stood up and went into the kitchen. Ryan approached Seth.

"What was that about?" Ryan asked.

"He wants a dog," Seth said.

"He has one."

"I know. But that dog is 7 years old. That's too old for him to do what Gabe wants."

"What does Gabe want?"

"He wants a Siberian Husky."

Ryan stared at Seth.

"He wants to breed it and show it off. I can get him one. I know a guy who has 27 gold medals between his two Huskies and the babies are champion sired, obviously."

Ryan thought for a moment. _Those things give good money_.

"I told him I could only get it from New York because I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Fine. But it has to be all white. They usually do better."

"How do you know that?" Seth asked.

"I watch Animal Planet."

Seth left and went to get the puppy for Gabe. Ryan sat on the couch for a few minutes thinking about how lucky he is.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own The O.C., FOX or anything related to it. I just own the characters I made up and I really don't own them either.**

While Seth was out getting the puppy, Ryan called some friends over from work to help him set up. About 10 guys showed up with grills.

"OK. We don't have that many people," Ryan said.

"We just want to make sure we have enough time," Marc said.

While they were cooking, Gabe came out and stared at all of the barbeques.

"Woah! Are we feeding Newport?" he asked.

"No. Just the entire 8th Grade," Harry said.

"Not the entire 8th Grade, just half of it."

"Well, we need to be prepared. You kids eat like no tomorrow," George said.

Gabe looked at his father. He just remembered something.

"I met a kid at school named Jason. He's bringing his cousin over. He says that she knows you," Gabe said.

"That's fine."

"It's a she. I don't think I met her. Otherwise, I would probably know Jason."

"I don't know who it is." _Yes you do. You know exactly who it is. _

"Are you sure?"

_No. _"Yes"

"OK. Good luck cooking." Gabe looked around the backyard.

"Where's Uncle Seth?"

"He went to the store. He'll be back later."

Gabe shrugged and went into the house.

Jamie leaned over to Ryan. "What did you get the kid for his birthday?"

"Seth and I each put in half for a Siberian Husky he wants," Ryan said.

"That's nice. But make sure it gets a lot of exercise. They get mean and shut people out when they don't."

"Trust me. Gabe is responsible. He'll make sure the dog gets exercise daily."

Seth was in his car on the way home from the groomer's house. He looked on the seat next to him. There, he saw the most beautiful dog he had ever seen. It was pure white and it had sparkling blue eyes.

The dog noticed Seth looking at him and barked. Seth laughed at the dog and the dog continued to chew on his bone.

Seth got home at about 11:30am. He saw about 5 cars and knew that Ryan called for backup. Seth left the dog in the car and kept the air conditioner on.

Seth went in the backyard and saw about ten guys working on grills.

"How many people are coming?" Seth asked.

"Close to 150," Ryan said.

"How many people did he invite?"

"About 80."

"Wow! 80 hormonal teenagers in your house at once. Good luck," Seth said.

About three hours later, the teenagers started showing up. Ryan warned all of the adults coming to come early so they can get a spot. None of them were prepared for all of the teenagers.

Everyone stared as the teenagers started pouring in. They were coming in one after another, like it would never end.

But when the few loners came in, Gabe noticed that Jason hadn't come yet. He didn't worry, but he decided to give him a call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jason. It's Gabe."

"Hey man. How are you?"

"Good. When are you coming? I'm just curious."

"I'm right outside. My cousin drove me. She drives slow."

Jason hung up and went outside.

"Hey man," he said.

"Hey. So where's your cousin?"

"She's parking the car. She seemed nervous to be here."

"Hmm. Wonder why."

"We'll find out. She said to go inside and she'll find us."

Gabe and Jason went inside and found Ryan.

"Hey dad. This is Jason. He just moved here."

"Nice to meet you sir. My cousin's outside. She'll be here in a minute."

"All right. Have fun Jason," Ryan said.

When they were walking away, Jason looked back at Ryan.

"How old is your dad?" he asked.

"Thirty."

"What about your mom?"

"She died of an aneurism after giving birth to me."

"Wow. That sucks. So how is your dad so wealthy?"

Gabe told Jason everything.

"After he took me home from the hospital, he went to the Cohens. He told them what happened and they said that we can live with them. At first, my father said no. But they talked him into it."

"Wow. How is he so rich though?"

"He owns a law firm with my Uncle Seth and my grandpa."

"Cool. Oh, there's my cousin."

Gabe looked over to where Jason was looking. He saw a nervous girl walking around. She didn't know where to go. Jason and Gabe went over to her.

"Hey Jason," she said.

"Hi. Do you want to see Ryan?" he asked.

"OK."

Jason and Gabe looked around and saw Ryan talking to Kirsten, Sandy and Seth.

"Let's go over," Jason said.

Gabe went over to Ryan.

"Jason's cousin's here."

Ryan looked around, but was surprised when a voice came up behind him.

"Hi Ryan."

Ryan saw the look on Seth's face and turned around. He couldn't believe who he saw.

"Marissa." He whispered

Gabe poked Jason. "We'll be leaving now." Gabe ran and Jason followed.

"Damn! You could smell the tension between them," Jason said.

"Yeah. Something must have happened. Oh well. Let's go find some other people," Gabe said.

Ryan looked at Marissa. _God she's gorgeous. NO!! Stop that! _

"How are you?" she asked.

"Fine."

Awkward silence. Again.

"Can we talk?" Marissa asked.

"About what? I left you. I told you not to see me again after what you did to my son and me."

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to."

"You're so full of shit Marissa."

"I'm sorry. But I have to talk to you."

"Fine. But not now. We'll talk on Monday. I have off and Gabe will be in school. Until then, you can stay at the party. Just stay away from my son."

Marissa nodded and walked away.

**FLASHBACK**

_Ryan looked over at the clock. 8:30am. Gabriel slept late today. He looked over to his other side and saw Marissa still sleeping. God did he miss her. He wrapped his arms around her and didn't want to let her go. But Gabriel started to cry so he got up._

_It was a normal day. Everyone stared at Ryan as he walked with his one-year old son in the stroller. He didn't care what people thought. He never did._

_After the walk, he got home and saw Marissa's car still here. He went into the pool house and saw her drinking a bottle of Absolut Vodka. He saw another bottle on the floor._

"_You promised me you were gonna stop!" he yelled._

"_I didn't promise you shit," she slurred._

"_Know what? I don't need you! Get the fuck out of here!"_

"_You cant do that!"_

"_Yes I can!" _

_Marissa got up and went over to the stroller where Gabriel was and smacked him. The baby started to cry. Marissa hit him and again and Ryan went over to Marissa and held her arms back. He took her and took her out of the pool house. She instantly started to wobble as she walked away._

_Ryan went over to his son. His face was bleeding from where her nails hit him. He went into the bathroom and got some first aid supplies and cleaned him up._

_About 20 minutes later, he fell asleep. Ryan stood watching his son over his crib._

"_She will never come near you again. I promise."_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own The O.C., FOX or anything related to it. I just own the characters I made up and I really don't own them either.**

But Marissa didn't listen. She found Gabe and wanted to talk to him.

"Look. My father obviously knows you. I want to know how," Gabe said.

"I use to date your father," she said.

"What happened?"

"I did some bad things and I made some bad choices."

"What did you do?"

"You can't tell your father this," she said.

"I won't."

"When you were a year and a half, I hit you. Twice."

"What?"

"That cut on your cheek is from me hitting you."

Gabe stared in awe. "What about the one on my neck?"

"That is from when you were born. Honestly. The umbilical cord got wrapped around your neck and it cut you, but your mother's body healed it."

"I don't believe this shit," Gabe said.

"What?"

"That you abused me and you pretend that it didn't happen." With that, Gabe walked away.

* * *

Ryan was searching the party for Marissa, when Gabe came up to him.

"Can Jason sleep over?" he asked.

"Um... OK. Why Jason? I'm just curious."

"Because Marissa might give him a permanent scar on his cheek."

"How do you know about that?"

"She told me. I want her out of here."

"I will send her home. Now."

* * *

Ryan was able to find Marissa talking to Seth. Seth looked over at Ryan and pleaded for help.

"So where's Summer?" Marissa asked.

"She's on a four month trip to New York City for work."

Marissa felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Ryan.

"Hey! How are you?"

"You spoke to my son. Get out of here."

"You can't make me leave."

"Yes I can."

"No."

"He can't. But I can." Marissa turned around and saw Gabe.

"Leave. Now. Before I do something I might regret."

"I'll get Jason and-"

"Jason is spending the night here," Gabe said.

"Fine. You take care of him. I'll call his mother and she'll bring his clothes over." Marissa turned towards the gate and walked away. All of the teenagers were staring at her and whispering. She learned long ago to ignore them.

* * *

By 10:30pm, all of the teenagers started leaving. The adults were already gone. The didn't want to feel the Atwood wrath and they knew how bad it would be.

Jason's mother brought his stuff over and said her good-bye. But not before staring in awe at the size of Ryan's house.

"Holy shit! What do you do for a living?" she asked.

"I own a law firm with my brother and father."

"That's nice. What's it called?"

"SRS Law Firm."

"Wow! You guys represented me in court a few months back."

"Really? What's your name?"

"Jamie Carmack," she said.

"I remember your case. Your lawyer was Caitlin Cooper. She's a bright person. You were the first case she worked on."

"I was aware of that. She's got some real talent."

"Yeah. She's a fighter."

"So. Do you have a wife?"

"No. I'm single."

"What about Gabriel's mother?"

"She passed away after giving birth. She had an aneurism."

"Wow. That sucks."

"Yeah.

"So. Would you like to get a cup of coffee sometime?" she asked.

"That would be nice."

"How's Monday? About 2:30?"

"I can't. I have a meeting. But how about Tuesday at 12:30?"

"That sounds great."

"I'll pick you up at about twelve. Are you gonna be home?"

"Yeah. I have off Tuesday."

"See you then," Ryan said.

"See you Tuesday," she said.

* * *

Ryan walked into the kitchen humming. He didn't notice that the two boys were sitting there.

"Woah! What's going on?" Gabe asked.

"Um... Nothing?"

"Nice try."

"Fine. I got a date."

"With my mom?" Jason asked.

"Yes. I hope you don't mind," Ryan said.

"Not at all! As long as she's happy."

Ryan smiled and got ready for bed.

"How old is your mom?" Gabe asked.

"I think she's 36."

"OK. One time, he went out with my friend's mom and she was 42! He was 28!"

"Wow. That sucks."

"I know."

* * *

That night, Ryan nightmares. Again. They came back every time he went on a date, each one worse than the rest.

Gabe's nightmares are just beginning.

_

* * *

_

_Screaming. Crying. Pain. Blood. Gabe was in a hospital room. There were doctors and he saw his father trying to get in. His father was young. He looked over and saw his mother. She wasn't moving. They were trying to revive her, but it wasn't working. Gabe went over and saw a baby crying on a table. He had a scar on his neck. Gabe felt his neck. It was bleeding._

_Gabe woke up in a poolhouse. He was on a couch and looked over to the bed and saw his father and Marissa. Ryan slowly woke up, followed by Marissa. Gabe blinked and he was walking beside his father, who was pushing a stroller. _

_Another blink. He was headed towards the poolhouse. Why was his heartbeat increasing? Ryan opened the door and found Marissa with a bottle of Vodka in one hand and an empty bottle on the floor. They started to yell. Marissa went over and hit the baby. Gabe's face started to bleed. She smacked the baby again and Gabe fainted._

* * *

Gabe woke up sweating. He was on the floor and was shaking. He crawled back into the bed and started to cry. He hoped that Jason didn't hear him, but he did. Not just that time, but the two other times where Jason had to help him into the bed. But Gabe didn't know about those times.

* * *

Ryan's nightmares are starting.

_Ryan was in a familiar place. It was his house in Chino. Ryan looked over and saw Dawn and her boyfriend fighting. He looked into the closet and saw a little boy in there holding his younger brother. It was 7 year old Trey and 5 year old Ryan. _

_Dawn's boyfriend went into the closet and pulled Trey out. He started to beat Trey. Ryan was crying and telling him to stop. But all he did was pick Ryan up and throw him across the room._

_Older Ryan fell on the floor and looked at himself. He remembered the injuries. Three broken ribs, a broken wrist and a scraped up knee._

_But before Ryan could feel the full affect of the pain, he was moved. Ryan was 12, Trey was 14. They were playing baseball. The ball went into the street. Ryan went to go get it. A drunk driver pulled out of no where and hit him. _

_Ryan felt the pain. His leg was badly injured._

_Ryan was in the hospital. His mother wasn't coming. She wouldn't come. Ryan started to cry._

* * *

Ryan woke up and found himself on the floor. He was shaking in a cold sweat and was crying in his sleep. Just like young Gabriel did.

Still, Ryan hears noises in Gabe's room and checks on him. Gabe is starting to have the nightmares. His reactions are worse than the ones Ryan is having. That means that they are just gonna get worse as he gets older.

Ryan and Gabe are gonna have a talk tomorrow. They have to get everything out to stop the nightmares.


End file.
